Memory Alpha:AOL chats/Ronald D. Moore/ron005.txt

Subj: Answers
Date: 3/3/97 7:45:08 PM
From: RonDMoore
<<How does the recent two parter tie in with "Rapture?" Were the Gem Hadar
ships the locusts mentioned in Sisko's profecy? Is the threat now over? Was
Sisko really in danger of dying or was Changeling Bashir just trying to hide
the Dominion's plan to blow up Bajor's sun?>>
Now, if I answered these questions, there wouldn't be a lot of mystery left,
would there?
<<correct me if I'm wrong, but does the Infirmary not now possess a
holoprojection system?>>
The unit was installed by O'Brien specifically for Dr. Zimmerman's work and
was presumably removed when he left the station. I won't rule out other
appearances by Dr. Z, but I will rule out having an EMH on the station.
<<Are you concerned that with the growing army of supporting characters, DS9
is losing its focus on the original crew?>>
Not really. I think we still manage to give all our regular characters their
due over the course of a season and I find that the "life" of the station is
enhanced as a result of the large number of recurring roles. It makes DS9
seem like a real place, a living community with many players rather than
falling into the trap of telling stories exclusively about seven people on
the Bridge of a ship while ignoring the "hundreds" of unseen crewmembers
supposedly just out of sight like we did on TNG (there were exceptions, I
know). I like Rom, Dukat, Garak, Zek, Kai Winn, and all the rest and think
they add to the special quality of the show, not detract from it.
<<Ron, I thought Bashir's dear old dad was a Federation ambassador (as
mentioned in "Melora").>>
I think Bashir said that his father was a Federation "diplomat" which is
sufficiently vague a description that it could mean anything. Richard Bashir
probably was briefly in the diplomatic service in some capacity before he
quit or was fired and then moved on to the next job in his wanderings.
<<I know that the DMZ is unstable, but I had the impression that no one had a
clear advantage, which made Dukat's statement about getting rid of the Maquis
seem disproportionate. But knowing that the Maquis were winning makes it
plausible. Did I miss something that explained all this clearly?>>
In "For the Cause" we discussed the fact that the Maquis were now on the move
again and were starting to win against the Cardassians. Also in "For the
Uniform" this advantage was pressed to the point of biogenic warfare that was
stopped only by Sisko, not the Cardassians.
<<You went to Cornell? Were you in a fraternity at Cornell?>>
I was in the Kappa Alpha Society -- a fraternity and literary society that
has since disbanded on the Cornell campus. (Not to be confused with the
Kappa Alpha Order, which is exclusively in the South and has some
relationship with the "ideals" of the Confederacy. The original KA was the
first fraternity in the nation, by the way, and still has several chapters
throughout the northeast.)
<<Was the oblique reference [in "Dr. Bashir I Presume"] to the Eugenics Wars
as 200 years ago a deliberate attempt to reposition that event in the
timeline or just an offhand inconsistency (as I hope). >>
This is my personal screw-up. When I was writing that speech, I was thinking
about Khan and somehow his dialog from "Wrath" starting floating through my
brain: "On Earth... 200 years ago... I was a Prince..." The number 200 just
stuck in my head and I put it in the script without making the necessary
adjustment for the fact that "Wrath" took place almost a hundred years prior
to "Dr. Bashir." I wrote it, I get the blame.
------------------
Subj: Answers
Date: 3/3/97 8:17:38 PM
From: RonDMoore
<<I am curious as to why there was so much concern about making Ziyal seem
"old enough" for Garak. She was 19 in "Indiscretion" from what I gather;
she'd be about 20 at the time of "By Inferno's Light". It seems as though she
should seem like a 19/20 year old who has spent 6 years in a labor camp
rather than be 'tailored' (as it were<g>) to suit Garak.>>
It's not so much a question of physical age as a question of how "mature" the
actress playing the role comes across on screen. Certainly someone who's
gone through an experience like the prison camp would've grown up in a hurry
and that was one of the reasons we thought a relationship with Garak would be
plausible. Our frequent recasting of Ziyal has been in part motivated by a
sense that she wasn't coming across as mature enough.
<<At the end of [Dukat's] public announcement [in "Inferno's Light"], and
before we cut to our people's reaction, you could have a had a scene between
Dukat and another Cardassian (Damar?)>>
A quick lesson in TV production: To do this scene probably would've required
the following:
A Ready Room-type set (not present in the episode you saw, we only had a one
wall background piece for Dukat's "ship"): $15,000
A speaking role (Danar): $2,000
Danar makeup & wardrobe: $2,000
1-2 hours shooting time: $4,000
Optional: Exterior optical of Dukat's ship over Cardassia (a recomposite of a
Bird of Prey over Cardassia Prime): $3,000
(These are just ROUGH estimates and should not be confused with actual quotes
of production costs.)
Grand total: $26,000. That is a lot of money even on DS9 and the budget of
the two-part episode was way over pattern (the standard week-to-week budget)
as it was. We could not have afforded this scene without making a $26,000
cut somewhere else and that would've been very difficult. There are a lot of
things we'd LIKE to do every week, but the realities of producing a show for
TV make us pick and choose where we want to spend our limited funds. In this
instance, we felt that while it would've been nice to see Dukat arrive at
Cardassia, it wasn't necessary and there were other places we would rather
spend the money.
<<I'd like to ask if we may ever see any DS9 characters appear on VOYAGER>>
I don't think anything like this is in the works, but I guess you never know.
<<Why does the Federation keep Invading Dominion space?. >>
The Dominion does not own the entire Gamma Quadrant. We had explored the GQ
for two years before encountering the Dominion, so it's not as though the
wormhole opens up in their living room. There are other races in the GQ that
are not part of the Dominion and the Ferengi at least have established trade
with some of them. When the Dominion told us to stay out of GQ, it was if
China told the US to stay out of the Yellow Sea. China is the big boy in
this neck of the woods, and you better take their warning seriously, but at
the same time we have trading partners and allies there and hey, freedom of
the seas and all that.
<<When you were at Cornell did you ever get a chance to meet Dr. Carl Sagan?
>>
I never met him, but did see him around from time to time. His house was
just off the campus and on the rocky face of a cliff overlooking one of
Cornell's famous "Gorges". Across the gorge was a fraternity house (not
mine) and I remember at least one occasion when this fraternity had the
ceremonial "sending of the invitation" to Sagan's house in preparation for a
party. This consisted of writing a party invitation on a golf ball and then
hitting into Sagan's backyard with much fanfare and huzzahs. Legend has it
that Sagan once actually showed up at the appointed hour with golf ball in
hand and so shocked the party-goers that there was an actual danger of
sobriety returning to the party. (Shudder)
<<I like Leeta and the actress that portrays her, and am cheered that the
events in this episode indicate that we will see her more often. Is that
what you have in mind?>>
We'll see Leeta again, but not a lot.